I'm an American but studied abroad in Denmark for around 6 months. When I was there, I found out that the Nordic countries have virtually eradicated down syndrome by testing pregnant people for it. 99% choose to abort. How do you guys feel about this?
Personally this is quite disturbing to me. I've known people with down syndrome who live happy, quality lives. Even if it is up to the mother whether or not to abort, when it happens 99% of the time, is it not cultural eugenics? It seems the culture is almost afraid of taking care of a child with down syndrome. Especially in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, where the resources to take care of them are more widely available. If you could test for other things like autism, or even something like extreme depression, would yall do the same thing?
EDIT: I am strongly pro choice and I have talked to many American people on both sides of the political spectrum about this and they unanimously agree with me. On an individual level, I support everyones right to make their own decisions, but when it gets to the population level it becomes more of a cultural issue. There seems to be a cultural agreement that children with down syndrome are too difficult to care for. Does that make it ok to eradicate them? I honestly don't know
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The original was posted on /r/denmark by /u/queen_bs at 2024-03-13 15:12:18+00:00.
queen_bs (OP) at 2024-03-13 18:04:39+00:00 ID:
kupm0g7It's not that they shouldn't be given the choice, but that their choice is based on a preexisting belief that having a child with down syndrome will ruin their life when this is not necessarily the case. I don't think that any laws should change, but the culture seems to fear taking care of someone with down syndrome, no matter their financial/family situation
JoeThePoolGuy123 at 2024-03-13 18:26:58+00:00 ID:
kupq4wtI think this culture may also be due to the fact that a vast amount of pregnancies which result in birth in Denmark are chosen/planned. In Copenhagen the average age for a first time mother is 30-35 (can't remember the exact age).
wolframfeder at 2024-03-13 19:12:13+00:00 ID:
kupydxvHaving a kid with downs syndrome can severely affect how you live your life.
I have a friend whos brother has downs, they decided to keep him.
but frankly his mental capacity and motorics is that of a small kid/toddler and they essentially have had the obligations to that of a toddler for 30 years at this point, up to and including changing diapers several times a day.
They can get some assisted care, but their daily life essentially has to revolve around having a life-long toddler, which severely restricts how they go about their life. Some people have certain lifestyles they dont want to give up because they potentially have to take care of a special needs child that can never achieve sufficient autonomy.
MrBanden at 2024-03-13 20:33:51+00:00 ID:
kuqdcgfAre you suggesting that it is selfish towards the parent's unborn fetus to not have it because it has Downs? Disregarding for a moment that it's a fetus, but you think it's okay to knowingly choose to have a child that will have multiple health issue, and will have it's lifespan cut in half? No, it doesn't mean that the child will necessarily have a bad life, but you are choosing to knowingly force those issues on a child? Now that is selfish.
Imagine if we could cure Downs syndrome in utero and that was the choice. Absolutely nobody would choose to not do that, because that would be extremely cruel, wouldn't it? If you can agree with that, then how is having an abortion any different?
Parents can choose to have abortions at 12 weeks (which is when the test is done) where there is nothing wrong with the fetus. Why should we give special status to fetuses with Downs syndrome?
You claim to be pro-choice, yet you moralize over other people's choices... ?